LK,
You mean like this?
http://forum.pafoa.org/open-carry-14...encounter.html
Or this?
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-i...bbery-kennesaw
Or do you mean, like this story from Massad Ayoob in
The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ayoob in Gun Digest book
In Arizona, a friend and I were in a convenience store between Prescott and Paulden on the way to Gunsite Training Center. My friend came from a state that then had no provision for private citiens to carry a handgun in any fashion, and was luxuriating in his ability under Arizona law to carry his custom Colt 45 auto in an exposed holster. I was a few steps away when I saw a man walk in, do a double take when he spotted the gun, and deliver a "target stare" to the loaded pistol. Amost in exaggerated pantomime, he mugged an expression of outrage and pointed at the pistol, making eye contact with others in the store that indicated his outrage. And then, that man moved in behind my friend, reaching out for the holstered pistol.
I stepped between them, glaring at the interloper. He stopped, looked at me, obviously decided that whatever was going to happen wasn't worth it, and walked away with an angry look on his face. I don't think he was going to try to shoot anyone with my friend's gun, but he was obviously going to grab it and do some show-off thing, which coulod have led to a struggle for a loaded gun in a crowded convenience store, with an obviously high potential for tragedy.
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Ayoob then goes on to relate a personal situation where a "very aggressive panhandler" spotted Ayoob's own weapon. The sight "stopped him in his tracks" and he "turned around and walked away."
My point?
This stuff happens. Both sides of this discussion are completely correct:
- Open carry does deter a certain number of violent crimes, and
- Open carry does provoke a certain number of gun-grabs and stupid or violent behavior from bystanders and criminals.
If you open carry and are
not physically equipped to deal with those gun grabs, you're being very foolish.
If you make fun of people who open carry because you think it cannot possibly prevent some crimes, you're also being very foolish.
The guy who open carries without training, without proper equipment, and without admitting that he may someday need his handgun retention skills? That guy is putting himself and
everyone around him at risk.
The other guy, the one who just makes fun of open carry, he's wrong -- but his wrongness isn't endangering a soul.
pax